Almost 2,000 persons received medical treatment and two hospitals received $1 million worth of medical supplies and equipment in the 2008 Philippine Medical Mission sponsored by the South Platte Rotary Club. The mission was led by South Platte Rotarians Denys Collins and Balty Lotuaco, who have now completed 15 medical missions to various areas in the Philippines.

From January 14-18, a 38-person team provided 29 major surgeries, 70 minor surgeries and medical visits to 2,000 indigent citizens at a public hospital in La Union province (6 hours north of Manila). "Everything was impressive," says Cassy Venters, missioner, "from the coordination and provision of medical equipment to addressing the needs of thousands of people."

"Seeing a patient walk away on crutches instead of using bamboo poles as crutches is moving. The most touching, though, are the children." The picture shows one boy following cleft palate surgery. "The small children will probably never remember the surgery and never suffer the cruelty that can come from being different from other children."

Rotarians John Ellis and Becky Atkins of the South Platte Rotary Club and Cassy and Jerry Venters from the Plaza Rotary Club were a part of the mission team. The remaining team members were from the project partners, Kansas City's Philippine Medical Society and Philippine Nurse's Association. It included medical personnel from Kansas City, New York, Washington, Georgia, and Florida.

The mission is the culmination of a year-long effort collecting donated medical supplies and equipment. Throughout 2007, trip participants and others packed the supplies and equipment, which filled two large shipping containers. A Rotary Matching Grant helps pay the mission costs.

by Gordon Hadden, District Membership Chair

The challenge of making Rotary attractive to the Generation X and Millennium Generations is being answered by the formation of a new Rotary Club in Lee's Summit. A handful of younger Rotarians are taking the lead in recruiting other young professionals to start a new club that will meet at 4:30 PM every Tuesday at Beachamp's in Downtown Lee's Summit.

The Lee's Summit Rotary Club and the Lee's Summit Sunrise Club are co-sponsoring the new club. Jennifer Kicks, President of the Lee's Summit club said, "The Rotary Club of Lee's Summit is very excited about being a co-sponsor of the new Downtown Rotary club. I am very hopeful that the new day and time will draw those service-minded individuals that cannot make the Thursday or Friday meetings. I am looking forward to joint Rotary projects with all three clubs and increasing the number of Rotarians in Lee's Summit".

Beth Lindquist, President of the Lee's Summit Sunrise Club adds, "Lee's Summit Sunrise Rotary Club is proud to serve as co-sponsor of our newest District 6040 Club, The Downtown Lee's Summit Rotary Club. We see the development of the new club as an opportunity to further the mission of Rotary International in our community. Congratulations to President Chris Rodriguez and his team of directors!"

Pictured are members of the Downtown Lee's Summit Rotary Club Board as they plan future activities during a recent meeting. From left, front row are Chris Rodriquez, Ron Hicks, and Billy Hammerly. Back row are Keith Stidham, Sam Bowlby, Marty Brooks, and Mike Cannady.

The new club's leadership has adopted several of the Building Blocks for a successful club. Every member will serve as greeters and every two weeks a member will give a vocational talk in addition to regular meeting presentations by guest speakers. Every meeting will allow for 15 to 20 minutes of mix and mingle, fun and fellowship. A social night has already been planned to include spouses/guests. A Fundraising Committee has started to work on ideas while, the membership is considering community service projects.

Club officers are President Chris Rodriquez, Vice President Elect/Programs Ron Hicks, Secretary Laura Taylor, Membership Mike Cannady, Fundraising & Public Relations Sam Bowlby, Jessica Bowlby, and Billy Hammerly, Sgt at Arms/New Member Mentor Keith Stidham, Rotary Foundation Marty Brooks.

District Governor Sally Bibb and her New Club Special Representative, Carl Chinnery, would like to invite all District 6040 Rotary Clubs to support the new club by considering a gift. For information about the gift list, contact Carl at cchinnery@chinnery.com or Marty Brooks at mbrooks@hfskc.com.

The Rotary District 6040 'Shoe season' is upon us and seems like just yesterday when the UPS truck, delivering 18,000 pairs of shoes from Excelsior Springs, pulled into the dock of the Buckner warehouse in Dallas. What an exciting day that was for our team and for the children we serve. With your help, Buckner shipped more than 165,000 pairs of shoes to 26 countries around the world in 2007. Isn't it exciting to know that children will walk through life with a new pair of shoes?

As Buckner continues to pursue global expansion, the need for shoes increases. In addition to current commitments, a container of shoes will be shipped to Honduras, India, Mexico and Uganda. (A container holds approximately 11,000 pairs of shoes and socks.) Also, we plan to increase our support for impoverished children who live along the U.S.- Mexico border. Your support is needed more than ever.

Our Rotary "Shoe Drive Roll Call" will be here before you know it (at lunch of the District Conference in Kansas City on Saturday, April 26th), so it is time to get started. First, identify a Shoe Drive Chairperson. Second, submit your shoe drive best practice, that is an idea or tactic that led to success, to rgarton@buckner.org. And third, upon receiving the Shoe Drive Kit in the near future, review the materials and plan your strategy.

We look forward to another successful year of collecting Shoes for Orphan Souls.

In early January, Rotary International President Elect D.K. Lee introduced "Make Dreams Real" his presidential theme for 2008-09 before a crowd of DGEs, including our District 6040 DGE Elizabeth Usovicz, and other Rotary Leaders at the International Assembly in San Diego. The theme was enthusiastically received. Also unveiled at the Assembly's first plenary session

In his remarks RIPE D.K. pointed out that every day some 30,000 children under the age of five die from preventable causes. He said, "Every day, around the world, children die needlessly of pneumonia, measles and malaria. Thousands die every day from the lack of a most basic resource: clean water. And many more die from a combination of factors, in which malnutrition and poverty play major roles. I would like to see reducing the child mortality rate become a key goal of club and district service projects in the year ahead."

Lee went on to say, "For the last few years, RI's presidents have chosen to continue a consistent set of service emphases, focusing every year on projects in health and hunger, water and literacy. I plan to keep these three emphases but to ask the entire family of Rotary to make a special effort to focus on projects that will make a difference in the lives of children."

Mark your calendars! The NAIA Basketball Tournament is March 19-25 at Municipal Auditorium in downtown Kansas City. Our District 6040, under the leadership of Assistant Governor Jerry Wolfe, is planning an NAIA Rotary night on SATURDAY, MARCH 22, 2008. There will be two games that night which are semi final games and promise to be good games. There are also activities in the lower auditorium for the younger people. This could be a good family event which is not only an opportunity for Rotary fellowship but also some Rotary recognition.

Rotarians and their guests are invited to attend. Adult tickets are $12 and student/child tickets are $5 and Rotarians are responsible for buying thier own tickets. An order form can be found on the district web site www.rotary6040.org or the NAIA web site www.naia.org or email dboyd@naia.org. Wouldn't it be a fun evening if we had hundreds of Rotarians and their families joined together for the game.

by DGN Bob Jones, District Trainer

In June of 2007, the RI Board endorsed the 2007- 2010 Strategic Plan. A discussion of the RI Strategic Plan and your Clubs Strategic Plan would make for a fantastic Club assembly. You are able to download a copy of the RI Strategic Plan for the RI website, www.rotary.org/RIdocuments/en_pdf/stratgic_plan.pdf. You can also find some excellent reading and review in the latest edition of the Rotarian magazine on pages 48-50 and page 55. It is my understanding that there will be future articles in the Rotarian magazine focusing on different aspects of the RI Strategic plan.

One of the major focus points of the RI Strategic Plan is to ensure that each Club has their own Strategic Plan which should work hand in hand with RI plan. Since your Club has just recently submitted the officer slate for the 2008-09 year, this is an excellent time to review your plan and ensure your Club has their goals and visions in place for the upcoming years. It seems the most basic and critical questions being asked at each level of the Rotary organization and of each Rotarian: Where are we now, where do we want to be, and how do we get there?"

Is your club interested in an international water project? Engineers Without Borders (EWB-USA) has conducted successful water projects and is working with Rotary International to support these efforts. On Tuesday, February 26th, there will be a water project seminar to discuss potential international water projects and collaboration between local Rotary Clubs and EWB Chapters. There will be a presentation by the EWB-Kansas City Professionals Chapter (EWB- KC) over their on-going project in Dominican Republic. The seminar will be 6:00 - 7:30 PM, 3131 Broadway, Kansas City, MO. No advance registration is necessary. For more details contact District Water Task Force Chair Bob Benson bensonb@everestkc.net.

In November 2007, a team of engineers and volunteers traveled to La Romana, Dominican Republic to partner with impoverished communities to implement quality of life improvements. They installed three bio-sand drinking water filters, educated the local community on sanitation practices, cleared and lined drainage ditches to reduce stagnant water, and worked with local children on personal hygiene and hand-washing activities.

Launched in 2001, EWB-USA today has over 8,000 members, 200 chapters, and projects in 41 countries. For more information on EWB-USA, visit www.ewb- usa.org. The EWB-Kansas city chapter was formed in 2006 and includes professionals from throughout the Kansas City metro area. In addition to supporting local student chapters, their goal is to develop international projects. For more information on the KC chapter, visit www.ewb-kc.org.

Rotary Clubs throughout the U.S. and the world have partnered with EWB chapters for international water projects. EWB-KC welcomes local Rotary participation and is excited to explore opportunities to connect their chapter, as well as the university chapters they support, with local Rotary Clubs on current and potential future projects.

Districts 6040, 6060, 6080 and 5710 (Missouri and Eastern Kansas) are planning an Alaskan Cruise for Rotarians. The trip will be a wonderful sight-seeing adventure as well as a great opportunity for Rotary fellowship. This will be a Rotary Experience with Hospitality Room on board during the cruise, Rotary Make-up Meeting, separate tours for Rotary members, jackets for identification of the Rotarians, meal areas for the Rotarians to eat together if they so desire. Plus, we have negotiated $100 from each booking to go to a Rotary charitable program.

The 8 day cruise would depart from either Seattle or Vancouver on August 31, 2008, and conclude at Anchorage. Travelers would then have the option of flying home or continuing on a 4 day land tour of Alaska ending in Fairbanks. A brochure with details will be available later this month but meanwhile you are welcome to call 800.869.6806 and ask for the Rotary Alaska Desk. With a limited number of cabins, please make your reservations early.

email: sallybibb@aol.com

phone: 816-285-5500